1. Field
The present disclosure relates to a charger that charges a battery, and in particular, relates to a charger that charges a battery of a vehicle that runs with a motor as a power source.
2. Related Art
Specific examples of this kind of vehicle include an electric vehicle and a hybrid vehicle. A battery of a high voltage dangerous to a human body is mounted in this kind of vehicle, and a vehicle-mounted charger for charging the vehicle-mounted battery also uses high voltage, because of which sufficient consideration needs to be given to safety. To describe in more detail, this kind of vehicle-mounted charger commonly has such a configuration that an AC/DC converter and a DC/DC converter are connected in series, and a smoothing capacitor that once converts alternating current power supplied from an external alternating current power supply into direct current power, and stores the direct current power, is included in the AC/DC converter. With regard to the smoothing capacitor too, sufficient care needs to be taken in order that breakage due to overvoltage does not occur. ISO26262, officially published in 2011, is one example of automotive functional safety standards, including safety with regard to a vehicle-mounted charger (refer to http://www.jari.or.jp/tabid/112/Default.aspx).